2nd Class Citizen. 6/2/2005
I had a minor altercation when attending the blogger’s meet on Sunday. Peter Tan, in all innocence, asked to me turn up at the meet in my full riding gear. I obliged, since he was visiting us, and this man has lived in a wheelchair since his teens. So on Sunday morning, I togged up in my race suit. Put on my helmet. Slipped on my racing gloves. Got into my road boots. No, I won’t wear my racing boots outside of the track. They’re a bright red in colour and everyone tells me I look like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.
I rolled the Silver Lady out, and prayed that she would start. She needs a new battery, this one now barely managing to crank the high compression pistons over, and pressurise the fuel injection system. She started with a roar, and I got on and shot off to the Mid Valley. I turned into the Boulevard, and headed towards a bike park. And this security guard stopped me.
He told me that bikes had to be parked downstairs in the bike park. I shook my head at this and said that the Lady would not fit in the bike park, because it was designed for step throughs and mopeds. Certainly it wouldn’t accomodate anything as large as the Silver Lady let alone a really long wheel base bike like a Harley-Davidson, or a very wide and large on like a Gold Wing.
I headed out, and sort of circled the building. And somehow, against my better judgement, found myself in the underground car park. I came to a stop, and was halted by another security guard. I asked him where he could park the Lady, and he asked me to follow him. He brought me to the aforementioned bike park. I shook my head again, and told this guy that my bike would not make the u-turn to get into the bike park, let alone fit into it.
So he said I could park the Lady next to the security office. Oh, joy! Unfortunately, I found out an occupational hazard of riding race compound tyres on a superbike in a concrete parking lot. I was heading to the parking lot when I just barely cracked the throttle open, and the rear tyre spun up and kicked out on me. I was drifting sideways for a distance, not daring to shut the throttle in case the bike highsided, and riding the Lady like a bronco, half out of the seat. If I’d had an audience they would have been clapping and cheering.
So I parked the Lady safely, and slipped my helmet off. I had a smoke, and a chat with the security guard, and complained to him about the Mid Valley not being more accomodating to large motorcycles. I pointed out to him that large bikes in this country are damned expensive, and those of us who ride one usually have the spending ability to match. And not all of us want to drive to the Mid Valley, especially on a freaking Sunday during the school holidays.
I said that the mall had great facilities for the disabled, and mothers with children, and everyone else and their dog, but nothing for big bikes. Now I know what it feels like to be a second class citizen.
- Posted in : On the road
- Author : thesnark
Comments»
Welcome to my world.
do you know something? *smacks head* It didn’t occur to me that you actually rode a bike. Wow.
Jayelle, you don’t really think I get my kicks from walking around malls dressed like a Power Ranger do you?
Peter, yeah, discrimination sucks donkey balls.
Meeting My Peers
One thing I learnt from the Mid Valley Bloggers Meet is that KLites do not like to wake up at 10 o’clock on a Sunday morning. “Chisin,” said Penny, or something to that effect, when I told her in…
Similar situation happened to me in 1U recently, although they did have a big bike park, it was way on the other side in the old wing. i just wanted to have lunch at Delicious which had plenty of space to accommodated the akai onna outside.
This country needs to grow up